Help Kids Play it Safe in the Summer Heat
Believe it or not, despite deadly tornados, hurricanes and floods, heat is still the number one cause of weather-related deaths in the US, resulting in hundreds of fatalities every year and even more hospitalizations. For children, especially young athletes, combining intense summer heat and humidity with excessive exercise makes even the healthiest of kids vulnerable [...]
Imagining a Smoke-Free World
Cigarettes seduced me slowly. At first, they helped me to lose weight, keeping my mouth busy between meals. Then I began to depend on them when I was anxious, angry, sad, and in social situations. Cigarettes became my constant companion, in sickness and in health. May 31 is the WHO’s World No Tobacco Day, and [...]
Stroke Awareness: In My Family, It’s Personal
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreaded having a brain aneurysm or a stroke. This might seem like an odd thing for a little girl to worry about. Unless, of course, that little girl’s mom suffered from a massive stroke at age 28, when her daughter was just eight. My parents separated when I [...]
My Close Encounter With Skin Cancer
You know how when you are young you think that the bad stuff only happens to other people? You believe you’re immune and immortal, and are sure the advice parents give is just to “pop our bubble” or “rain on our parade”? Well, that was me. I didn’t even think I’d turn thirty one day, [...]
How to Find Low-Cost Mental Health Care Without Insurance
While most of us don’t think twice about consulting a doctor when we have a physical illness, many find it difficult to seek help for emotional issues. However research shows that physical and mental health are strongly interconnected and it’s vital that we address both body and mind in order to feel our best and [...]
Why We Need to Think About Organ Donation
A very long time ago, I decided that the day I died, I wanted to have my organs donated. Perhaps it was remembering loved ones that died waiting for an organ, coupled with the fact that a close member of my family was saved by a bone marrow transplant. I also wondered, what is the [...]
Is Your Family Getting Enough Sleep?
Sleep, snooze, shuteye. We spend one third of our life sleeping. A waste of time? Absolutely not! And don’t take it for granted either. Sleeping is essential for our survival, for physical and mental well-being. If you have the misfortune of something disrupting your sleeping habits—a new baby, a puppy or a noisy neighbor—you will [...]
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: A Threat in Every Home
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations warned about this “global threat” in a recent report. It seems no one is safe, no matter where you live, but infants and children are known to be especially vulnerable. Don’t think you can escape by hiding at home, because this danger lurks in every household. I’m [...]
What’s Behind the Huge Rise in ADHD Diagnoses?
A recent report by The New York Times details what one physician referred to as an “astronomical” rise in the number of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses in children from preschool to high school age. Some in the medical community suggest that physicians are handing out ADHD diagnoses too easily—just as they are prescriptions for [...]
A Little Known & Fatal Disease: Understanding Kawasaki Syndrome
Mother’s Day, 2009—My husband is in Maryland visiting his very ill grandmother. My toddler is with my mother. Our plans for brunch were canceled. I’m in the emergency room of the local children’s hospital with my tween Maddy. The pediatrician had called an hour earlier to follow up on our visit to her [...]
